London academic prep schools with strong music emphasis

[bayesian]

I am looking for an academic prep school in London (anywhere as I can relocate) where my little girl can receive very good and preferably daily tuition on musical instruments (piano and violin). We want her to perform at very high level. I would also prefer daily lessons in French, but that music has a higher priority.

I need the music lessons to be held in the school instead of private tutoring due to my corporate tuition arrangement (private lessons outside are not covered).

I have considered:

• Ecole Jeannine Manuel (obviously strong in French but music side is poor)
• Holy Cross Prep (pretty decent in music but I want more)

If you want to go to the open afternoon, you’ll need to fill in this form.

www.spcslondon.com/admissions/opens-afternoons/

@bayesian
I think it’s also sometimes hard for teachers to communicate with parents about how to help their children. But the good ones use the teacher/student relationship to empower the child.

You may be an expert on how your child learns best but you may be too enmeshed to see that other approaches might enhance their learning environment.

Daily lessons will produce the result you want probably but they may not produce a kid who knows how to self study and who loves music.

Its more common in the US as in the UK we had (in some areas still have) a class system which has meant that if your face fitted you could get what you wanted with out really needing to make the effort. Also in so far as Oxbridge is concerned admissions tutors are not that keen on hot housed pupils - they are looking for people who are independent thinkers and will be interesting to teach. The same goes for music - getting a scholarship to a top UK conservatoire (which are the best in the world) entails having a high degree of musicality as well as technical ability and only one of those can be drilled into a child.

OP, you know happiness is a good thing, right?

wheras many in England talk about their kids being "happy at" the schools which send no kids to oxbridge and ivy.

God forbid anyone should want their child to be happy...

You have to ask yourself WHY you want your child to play music to this high level? So they can be a musician (which is what my teenager wants to study full time), or just because YOU want to push them? Otherwise you are living your dream through them rather than working out what they are good at, and what they need support with. Work out who your child is and what they need help with, and where they can shine. That may not involve endless worksheets and music practice.

And as someone who studied at Oxbridge and Ivy (from a school I am 100% going to guarantee you haven’t heard of), when you come out you have to make your way in the world. I used my degrees to become…an academic in the humanities. Teach your child to be a good person with good morals that can withstand peer pressure in their teen years. Teach them a decent work ethic (which is not about graded music exams), and teach them to work out for themselves what brings them joy.

Finally, since you thought I was tiger parenting, the most important thing I do as a parent is make sure they have free unstructured time, and lots of it. We don’t do holiday camps, my kids laze around, play, read books and learning to be bored is a really useful life skill. Also as a mum of boys I make them do chores and I have taught them housework…far more important to be able to cook, clean, know how to do laundry (including putting it away), load a dishwasher, change a lightbulb, do the recycling, change the bed sheets. THEN he can play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto!

Good for you, @MangshorJhol. I felt as I read the OP's reply to your earlier post that she had not understood it.

Indeed, @MangshorJhol. DSD is at Junior Conservatoire, as well as one of the most academic schools in the UK, which consistently sends 30 %+ to oxbridge/ ivys. She practises probably 30mins a day max! Lessons (private) once a week, as well as playing opportunities in school and JD. She adores music and the current plan is a career in music.

however, one of her classmates, who actually got into JD before she did, is a different matter. She has been pushed pushed pushed, and is now deeply unhappy and ragingly jealous of those for whom music (and academics) come naturally.

OP, the kind of music setup you want just doesn't exist here, unless you go to a very specialist music school like the Purcell or Menuhin; though I suspect you would disapprove of their Uni outcomes ;-) and even then they wouldn't offer daily lessons.

A prep at the academic level you want may well facilitate a lot of music, but certainly not 1-1 lessons in 2 instruments every day. Even the specialist music schools like the Menuhin don't do that. They suggest one 2 hour lesson on first study a week, sometimes more, alongside class lessons, and one lesson a week on second study, with practice supervision available (the majority of students board).

if you are aiming high academically, there are plenty of academic preps in London that also take music seriously, just not as badly pressured as your OP suggested you want - for good, musically and academically sound reasons.

I don't understand the benefit of daily music lessons? Surely once (or twice) is sufficient to give some direction and to allow the child to practise and perfect in-between times?

There is some merit for Cathedral choristers where they are being trained fast for extensive repertoire at professional level. But they don’t have daily 1:1

DD - who is specialising in music and plans a career in that area - has two lessons a week in her main study with two different teachers, and one lesson a week in other instruments. At one point she also had an additional hour group lesson once a week.

I can’t see that more than 2 lessons is beneficial. The hard work is done between lessons. DD does 2-3 hours practice a day across all instruments. But I haven’t told her to do that since she was about 8 (she was doing about 30 mins a day at that point).

What are you looking to achieve?

I’m not against making children do things for their own good… scales and French grammar and ballet are dull but worth getting the grounding. But only if it’s not making life a misery.

In general is has to be driven by them, not the parent or the teacher. And happy children do better than unhappy ones. Having a happy child is more important than any grade or exam result or alumnus.

How are you dealing with the odd school schedule especially in April? Is the school aiming to "normalise" the calendar? Did your child apply for chorister?

SPCS runs for the benefit of the choristers, and has done for hundreds of years, and so the terms are based around the choristers’ commitments at the Cathedral. The terms won’t change for that reason.

I absolutely love the long Easter holidays. I will be really sad when both of my children are in senior school and the holidays are more normal.

Neither of my children are choristers.

how can working parents deal with the irregular timetable? holiday clubs obviously are only available for regular timetable and SPCS doesn't seem to consistently organise its own holiday groups.

If you come to the open afternoon then you can ask the teachers (the Head, if she’s available) how parents manage the holidays.

How competitive is the choir entry? Are most students eyeing it?

I would imagine that they take holiday for the weeks when their child is on holiday and holiday clubs are not available - and take advantage of off-peak rates for their family holidays. Then use holiday clubs where the holidays overlap with regular schools.

Can your child sing well?
Are they really, really interested in music and the lifestyle of being a chorister?
Are you as a parent prepared for the lifestyle of your child being a chorister?

The choristers at St Paul's all board at the school. They are working weekends, Christmas and Easter as well as almost daily practice. Iirc they also have an individual lesson once a week. They have tours, recording sessions and extra commitments for special occasions. These take precedence over absolutely everything else in their and your life.

You have to have the right mindset as a parent to accept the limitations this will put on your life and the lives of your other children.

So becoming a chorister is not massively competitive as they are auditioned at 7 when they are not expected to be trained or outstanding - what they want is potential, and the right mindset.

A lot of parents don't want their child to board at such a young age, and are also not able/prepared to take on the whole family commitment where the cathedral rules your lives for 5+ years.

I have a child who sings professionally. We looked at cathedrals when she was younger. SPCS now has girl choristers that they didn't back then. I have very good friends whose children were choristers there and in other cathedrals (and my father and brother were both choristers). In hindsight, it would not have been a good fit for my DD as she is very much happier as a soloist and does not really enjoy singing with others. She does do that (harmony work is important) but she would not have embraced the kind of music making that choral work entails - even if I would have been keen on the training and discipline!

It would be a good idea to speak to other parents of choristers in order to fully understand what you could be signing up for. There is a probation year so you can try it out but I don't know many that back out at that point.

I really want to be helpful but I am not sure that I am going to add much more on this thread. From the original post, it sounded as though St Paul’s Cathedral School might offer a lot of what you are looking for.

If you are interested in it, come to the open afternoon.

However, if you decide that it won’t be a good fit for your family, that is okay too.

Hi OP.
My DS is a chorister at another London cathedral. I probably cant add much to the very good advice below, but happy to give you our perspective thus far if you want to DM me.
Cathedral choristership is, of course, a very full on commitment - you only have to hear these choirs sing to understand why. Prospective chorister families really must be fully aware of what that entails and be willing to have it take priority. Also wise to take into account the effect on siblings etc too.
But if everything lines up and for the right child, it’s
the best experience.